APPLE VALLEY — In less than 48 hours, Brisa Alfaro, 33, went from a kickboxing workout to laying in a New York City hospital listening to physicians pronounce her future as a paraplegic.

After suffering a life-threatening stroke during an East Coast business trip in March, Alfaro is back in California and walking again. Her family and friends are planning an “Angels For Brisa” fundraising dinner to help cover her medical expenses.

Alfaro’s face began to swell during a flight to New York City. After two Benadryl did not reduce the swelling, Brisa Alfaro checked into a New York medical facility the next day.

“The doctors said I was fine, but my body starting feeling weird,” Alfaro said on Wednesday. “I started screaming that something was happening to my body; then the stroke hit and my body just stopped working.”

After she didn’t hear from her daughter, Linda Alfaro used a smartphone app to discover Brisa’s phone was at a New York City hospital; then she called the hospital to confirm she was there. Within 24 hours, Linda Alfaro was at her daughter’s side.

“In the majority of the cases, people who suffer this type of stroke come out a paraplegic, “said Linda Alfaro, whose family owns Las Brisas Restaurant in a Apple Valley. “Brisa basically laid there in bed, not being able to move as physicians, oblivious to her presence, discussed the bad news. Doctors said if Brisa survived the next three days, she would only be able to move her eyes.”

After hearing the initial diagnosis, with a steely determination Brisa Alfaro told herself that she would walk back into the same New York hospital on the one year anniversary of her diagnosis to prove the doctors wrong.

After her brothers, Jordan and Omar Alfaro, visited her in New York, Brisa’s body began to improve, but breathing problems quickly had the young woman on several machines, which led to a surgery to repair throat damage.

“Attitude is everything. I went from not being able to move to walking without a cane,” Brisa Alfaro said. “I’m going to be running those Santa Monica Mountains again and doing some serious kickboxing. It’s not over by a longshot.”

Back in California, physicians at Kaiser Permanente Fontana and Ballard Rehabilitation Hospital in San Bernardino did an “excellent job” getting Brisa back on her feet again, Linda Alfaro said.

Brisa Alfaro, who works at Studio B in Apple Valley and Jade Design Studio in Santa Monica in addition to other jobs, said she is ready to start another job as a senior mentor with Young Nails.

“We are firm believers that the support from family and friends is key to Brisa’s recovery, as well as the moral, spiritual and physical support,” Linda Alfaro said. “All these support mechanisms are the angels in Brisa’s life. We also believe that prayer has played a huge part in Brisa’s recovery.”

The fundraising event is scheduled for June 20 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with dinner served from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Sunset Set Hills Memorial Park, 24000 Waalew Road in Apple Valley. Tickets are $30 per person and can be purchased by calling 760-887-7379. Dinner will be provided by “Out of This World BBQ.”

Visit www.hdphoenixfoundation.com for information about how to make donations online.

Brisa’s support team said with every donation, they will send her an “Angel Card” from the contributor, further reminding her of the support and prayers being sent from her many “angels” who care.

Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com or on Twitter@renegadereports.